About the Standards

SFEDI sets and maintains the SFEDI Business Support Standards. SFEDI has developed standards for business support since 2007, and recognises the professionals who meet them.

• Business advisers, mentors, coaches, consultants and trainers who support people starting, running and growing businesses
• Professionals who serve small businesses, such as accountants, bookkeepers, solicitors and bank staff
• People who design, commission and manage business support programmes
• Training and CPD providers who want to align their programmes to a recognised benchmark
• Employers who recruit, develop and appraise business support staff

Business support has changed a great deal since the national standards were written. Advisers now work by video and online as much as face to face. Businesses need help with AI and digital adoption, net zero, data protection, cyber security and a very different finance landscape. Commissioners and funders expect evidence of impact, not just activity.

SFEDI's national occupational standards for business and enterprise support were last updated in 2013, and were due for review in 2016. They are now classed as legacy and are being removed from the UK's National Occupational Standards database. National Occupational Standards are now maintained by Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, while England has moved to its own occupational standards for apprenticeships and technical education.

Neither route keeps a current, dedicated framework for the business support profession up to date.

SFEDI has redeveloped the Standards so that the profession has a current benchmark, and will keep them under review.

This edition keeps what has stood the test of practice and adds what business support professionals now need:

• New Specialist Standards in AI and Digital Adoption, Supporting Businesses in Difficulty, Rural and Land-based Business, Creative Industries and Business Resilience
• Ethical and professional practice set out as a Standard in its own right (C7)
• Measuring and evidencing impact drawn together into a single Standard (C5)
• Data protection, remote and digital delivery, and the responsible use of AI built into the Core Standards
• Mentoring and coaching given their own Specialist Standards
• The behaviours repeated in every original unit set out once, as eleven professional behaviours
• Dated references removed and duplicated units merged

Each Standard follows the format of the original SFEDI standards:

• Summary: what the Standard is about and who it applies to
• What you need to show: the performance requirements your practice must meet
• What you need to know and understand: the knowledge that underpins that practice
• Evolved from: the original SFEDI standards it replaces or draws on

By professionals, to assess their own practice, plan CPD and show clients and employers what they can do.

By employers and commissioners, to write job descriptions, recruit and develop staff, and specify the quality of support they expect from providers.

Through Specialist Certification (coming soon). Professionals will be able to be certified against a Specialist Standard.

Through Recognised Programmes (coming soon). Training and CPD providers will be able to map their programmes to the Standards and apply to SFEDI for recognition.

The Standards are free to read, download and use under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives licence (CC BY-ND 4.0). If you use them, credit SFEDI. You may not publish altered versions.